WPSA Forfeits License

Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smith's, N.Y. inside the Adirondack State Park, has relinquished their Class D FM broadcast license for WPSA(FM), by request in a letter to the FCC.

The upstate New York school had been facing troubles stemming from a series of forfeiture orders over the late renewal of their license in 2006 as well as lack of interest from the student body, says Radio Survivor.

The station’s troubles began in 1999 when their license was cancelled and their call sign deleted. Two years later, Paul Smith’s College filed a Petition for Reconsideration and had everything reinstated. Following the late renewal in 2006, a 2007 Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture dropped a $7,000 fine on their shoulders for the slip-up and for “unauthorized operation of the Station” after the license expired.

WPSA reportedly operated at around 10 watts, with a radius of two miles that covered little more than the campus.

Jill Susice, the school’s coordinator for student activities, told Radio Survivor that students were part of the decision to give up the broadcast license. Instead, current plans include bringing WPSA back as a strictly online entity.

“No one was listening and wanting to participate in it. The trend is that the students are online versus on the airways,” she was quoted by the blog.